Florida-headquartered Star Catcher Industries said it has raised $65 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round, as the company continues its effort toward building the first space-based power grid.
Star Catcher, based in Jacksonville, said the new investment—led by B Capital and co-led by Shield Capital and Cerberus Ventures, the venture arm of Cerberus Capital Management—brings Star Catcher’s total capital raised to $88 million.
Cerberus’ General John W. “Jay” Raymond (Ret.), the first chief of Space Operations of the United States Space Force, will join Star Catcher’s board, along with B Capital general partner and global head of energy Jeff Johnson and SHIELD Principal David Rothzeid. GreatPoint Ventures, Helena, Oceans Ventures, and MVP Ventures also participated in the round.
“This investment underscores the conviction that orbital infrastructure is now as fundamental as terrestrial infrastructure,” said Andrew Rush, co-founder and CEO of Star Catcher, in a May 12 news release. “Every major application driving the space economy—connectivity, computing, security, sensing—is power-limited today. Star Catcher is lifting that ceiling—making it possible to build in orbit at the scale the next century of life on Earth will demand.”
Star Catcher, founded less than two years ago, is developing a space-based energy infrastructure layer that delivers electricity on demand to satellites and other spacecraft using optical power beaming. Following an industry-leading seed round and what the company called “exceptional customer traction,” Star Catcher proved its optical power beaming technology, completed a critical on-orbit subsystem demonstration, and validated its end-to-end system architecture. The Series A positions Star Catcher to move from validated technology to scalable infrastructure.
“At B Capital, we focus on scaling technologies to enhance energy infrastructure, and the same dynamics we’re seeing on Earth are now playing out in orbit,” said Johnson. “There is exploding demand, limited shared infrastructure, and a generational opportunity for the company capable of building the first in-orbit grid. We strongly believe Star Catcher is that company. The traction we’ve seen thus far speaks for itself, and we’re proud to lead this round in support of a team that brings unmatched operational depth to solve this critical challenge.”
Accelerating Mission Cadence
Star Catcher will launch the first-ever space-based optical power beaming demonstration later this year. The mission marks a foundational step toward constructing the first energy grid in space—built to deliver up to 10x more power to satellites with no retrofit or custom receiver required—and the first of a series of flight missions designed to progressively retire technical risk and deploy operational capability.
This investment accelerates a second orbital mission already in development, and strengthens the engineering and operations capacity to drive scalable grid deployment as the company advances toward on-demand power availability.
“Star Catcher is solving the constraint that plagues every space-based mission: power,” said John Serafini, Partner at SHIELD. “They’ve moved from concept to world-record performance to flight hardware on a timeline almost no frontier-tech company achieves, and they’re building infrastructure with direct relevance to both commercial operators and the national security community. This is precisely the kind of company SHIELD exists to back.”
Expanding Customer Base
Star Catcher’s customer base spans commercial space operators and U.S. government stakeholders. The company has signed seven power purchase agreements, secured multiple government contracts, and is managing a qualified commercial pipeline representing more than $3 billion in projected annual recurring revenue. The Series A will fund continued commercial expansion alongside deeper engagement with U.S. national security customers.
“Energy and infrastructure resilience are core national and economic priorities on Earth, as in orbit,” said Gen. Raymond. “Persistent surveillance, resilient communications, and unhindered maneuverability are all constrained today by power. An on-demand power grid can change that, expanding critical capabilities across commercial and national security missions.”
—POWER edited this content, which was supplied by the communications team for Star Catcher.
